Grayson, p.9
Grayson, page 9
part #1 of Oath of Honor Series
“Okay, you have a point. I’ll grab the laptop too.” Grayson moved toward the table to pack up the device.
A few minutes later, she followed him out of the suite. At some level, she dreaded knocking on Andrew’s door this early since it was doubtful he’d be alone. Either Bambi or some other woman would likely be there too.
Telling herself it didn’t matter, she set her bag on the floor of the passenger seat and hopped into the truck. She hadn’t brought her coffee, knowing she’d only end up spilling it down her front. Grayson had mentioned getting breakfast, so she’d have to settle for that.
“Do you need directions?” she asked, after Grayson stashed his computer behind his seat and slid in behind the wheel. “It’s a side-by-side condo complex near Bishop’s Woods. It’s right off the interstate.”
“A side by side? Not a three-story building near the Irish Pub?”
“Not that one,” she confirmed. “It’s a few miles from there. Did you used to live in the three-story building?”
“Not me but Alanna Finnegan, or rather Alanna Carmichael used to live there.” He flashed a smile. “Rhy is the oldest of nine kids. Alanna is second youngest of the clan.”
“Wow.” She couldn’t imagine that. “I was an only child.”
“I have an older brother, Lincoln, but he’s currently living in Los Angeles. He’s married with two kids and works for one of the giant tech firms.”
She hadn’t known that about him. “Do you get to see your brother’s family often?”
“Not really.” Grayson’s smile faded. “Our parents divorced when we were just starting college. Lincoln tended to take Dad’s side, while I was closer to Mom.”
She reached over to rest her hand on his arm. “I’m sorry. That sounds complicated.”
“That’s one way to describe it.” Grayson shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. Lincoln is a nice guy, and we don’t harbor ill feelings or anything. We just don’t have a lot in common. I didn’t have a very high opinion of marriage in general until Rhy and his family started getting married. I admit, they are the real deal.”
“My parents were too.” She had known her parents had loved each other; their mutual support and caring was obvious. She’d assumed she’d find someone who loved her the same way, but that hadn’t happened.
She wondered if Grayson’s jaded view of relationships had kept him single for this long.
Then she reminded herself that his personal life wasn’t her concern. The moment they had the bomber behind bars, they’d both go their separate ways.
By the time they reached Andrew’s condo complex, she was wishing she had risked bringing the coffee. The car ride made her sleepy.
“Do you know which one?” he asked as they drove up to the cluster of side-by-side condos.
“Yes. The second from the right.” She gestured through the window.
Grayson parked on the road in front of the condo. She slid out of her seat and walked up toward the front door. Grayson quickly joined her.
“Follow my lead on this,” he said as he rapped on the door.
“What does that mean?” She frowned. “I thought you wanted me here to let you know if I think he’s lying?”
“That and maybe you’ll think of questions to ask him that I’ve missed.” He waited a few minutes, then knocked again.
She nodded, straining to listen. There were no sounds coming from inside. She frowned, wondering if Andrew had gone into work early.
“Is he a sound sleeper?” Grayson asked.
“How would I know?” She stared at him. “We didn’t sleep together.”
“Okay, I just thought I’d ask.” Grayson knocked again, then leaned on the doorbell. Even from outside, she could hear it, the sound of the doorbell reverberating through the interior of the condo.
Still nothing. Maybe Andrew was a sound sleeper. Or maybe he was with someone tucked away in bed. She had always suspected her refusal to spend the night with him was part of the reason he’d found someone else. Even if she was a bimbo like Bambi.
“Maybe we should see if his car is still in the garage,” Grayson said. “We could have missed him.”
“Maybe.” She moved off the front porch to look through the front window. At first, she didn’t see anything.
Then she saw a bare foot poking out from behind the breakfast bar as if the person was lying on the floor. A cold chill washed over her. “Grayson? Look!” She pointed to the foot.
Had something bad happened to Andrew?
The bare foot sticking out from behind the counter was not good. Pulling his phone, he called Rhy, knowing his boss lived in Brookland and was only minutes away.
“What’s going on?” Rhy asked. In the background, he could hear babbling from baby Colleen.
“We’re at Andrew Thomas’s condo in Brookland, and someone is lying on the floor. I’m going to break in under exigent circumstances.”
“Go ahead. Call 911 and I’ll meet you there. What’s the address again?”
Grayson rattled it off. Then he turned to Eve. “Call 911. I’m going in.” Without waiting for her to respond, he went up and examined the doorframe. It looked sturdy, but he kicked it once, twice, and a third time, before the doorjamb gave way beneath the pressure.
Inside, a horrible stench confirmed what he’d already suspected. Doing his best to breathe through his mouth, he pulled his weapon and entered the condo. “Police! Is anyone here?”
There was no response, not that he expected one. He quickly crossed into the kitchen, looking down at a man lying on the floor wearing nothing but a pair of gym shorts. The back of the guy’s head was bloody, likely bashed in with the bloodstained hammer lying on the floor beside the body.
Bending at the knees while taking care not to encroach on the crime scene, he felt for a pulse. The guy’s skin was cold to the touch. He was no ME, but clearly Andrew Thomas had been dead for a while.
Overnight at least, maybe longer. He wasn’t sure what time Rhy had sent someone here to interview him. But he highly doubted anyone from the team would have missed seeing this bare foot.
The ME would tell them for sure. He stared at the guy for a moment, realizing his torso was twisted a bit, as if maybe he’d turned toward the attacker, but not in enough time. The way the guy had fallen was strange too. A blow to the back of the head would send him staggering forward, but he was lying on his back.
The detail bothered him, but he forced himself to let it go. There were crime scene experts who would be able to recreate the scene of the attack. He backed off from the dead man and quickly cleared the condo before going back outside, checking the windows and the back door from a distance. There was no sign of a forced entry, making him believe the victim had opened his door to let the killer inside. He didn’t dig any deeper, though, knowing the crime scene techs would do a better job of that than he would.
He crossed to the broken door and stepped outside, gulping fresh air.
“He’s dead, isn’t he?” Eve’s voice was subdued.
“Yeah.” He glanced at her. “I’m sorry. I think he’s been there for a while.”
“I can’t believe this.” She looked dazed and confused. “How did this happen? Was he shot? Do you think the same shooter who came after us at the American Lodge came here instead?”
“No, he wasn’t shot. Someone hit him on the back of his head with a hammer. And was nice enough to leave the murder weapon behind.”
“A hammer? Really?” She frowned and shook her head. “That’s odd. I didn’t realize he had any woodworking tools. Andrew isn’t the type to do home repairs. That’s why he bought this condo.”
Interesting insight. “The murderer could have brought the hammer with him or her.” He noticed Rhy’s black SUV already pulling up behind Zeke’s truck. “The MO is so different from the bombings; I have to wonder if Andrew’s death isn’t connected to them.”
“A coincidence?” She looked pale in the sunlight. “I don’t know about that.”
He didn’t know either, but hopefully they’d get some answers soon. He took Eve’s arm and steered her away from the house. “Hey, Rhy. Andrew Thomas is dead, killed with a blow to the head with a hammer that was left behind. I cleared the house; there was no one lurking inside. I didn’t see any obvious signs of a forced entry, but I didn’t want to contaminate the crime scene by getting too close.” He gestured to the front door. “That is my work, but it was securely locked and took me several tries to break in.”
Rhy nodded grimly. “What brought you out here so early?”
He shuffled his feet, knowing Rhy wanted to know why he’d jumped the gun and took action on the case without clearing it with him or Joe first. “I know you were going to send someone to interview him, but I thought it might be better to do that with Eve, since she knew the guy on a personal level.”
“I told Grayson that Andrew started work at eight o’clock in the morning, so we thought we’d try to get here before he left the condo,” Eve quickly interjected. He was touched at how she stepped up to defend him when she hadn’t been that enthusiastic about coming here in the first place. “When Andrew didn’t answer the door, I looked through the window and saw his bare foot. Well, to be honest, I didn’t know for sure it was his, but it was definitely a man’s foot, and I know Andrew dates women.”
“Thanks for filling me in, Eve,” Rhy said kindly, then turned to Grayson with a knowing look. “You got anything more to tell me?”
“I’m sorry, Cap. It was my idea to talk to him first thing.” He knew it was better to take responsibility for his actions. Rhy and Joe were both fair men, but they also had high standards for their team. “Obviously I had no idea we’d find him dead, or I wouldn’t have come or brought Eve with me.” He cleared his throat. “And the hammer is an interesting choice of weapon. According to Eve, he wasn’t much on home repairs.”
“I’ll make a note for the crime scene techs to search for a tool kit.” Rhy blew out his breath. “I don’t know what to think. The hammer is a very different MO from the bombs and the gunfire, but the link to Eve is difficult to ignore.”
“I agree. It’s very strange.” Grayson wished he’d have thought of coming here last evening. So much had happened, especially the last bomb that destroyed the Jeep, that he’d thought checking in with Eve’s ex could wait until morning.
“Andrew wasn’t exactly monogamous.” Eve’s pale cheeks were now flushed with embarrassment. “I caught him cheating on me with a woman named Bambi. It could be that someone else caught him in the act too.”
“Bambi? Is that some sort of nickname?” Grayson asked.
“Not sure, her nametag refers to her as Bambi, so I assumed it was her actual name.” Her mouth curved in a wry smile. “She works for O&P.”
“What is O&P?” Rhy asked with a frown. “I never heard of it.”
“Owens and Powers Pharmaceuticals,” Eve said. “They’re a relatively new drug company, they came out with a breakthrough diabetes drug that is now a rival for Ozempic and others that can also be used for weight loss as well as diabetes. I assume Bambi was trying to convince Andrew to prescribe her company’s new drug when they became romantically involved.”
“Maybe this is a personal attack against the guy,” Rhy said thoughtfully.
“You’re saying Bambi learned Andrew was cheating and bopped him on the head with the hammer?” Saying the words out loud only made them seem more ridiculous.
“I don’t know,” Eve said with a sigh. “Andrew is not the faithful type. And you know that old saying about a woman scorned. For all I know, he could have had a string of girlfriends like Bambi.” She held his gaze for a moment as if comparing him to Andrew. He didn’t appreciate that since he’d never dated more than one woman at a time. Monica’s face flashed in his mind, and he pushed it away with an effort. “Either way, he didn’t deserve to be murdered in his own home.”
The ear-splitting sound of sirens grew louder as the 911 responders arrived. He wished he could tell them there was no reason to hurry, but as the ambulance rolled to a stop behind the squad, they seemed to realize they weren’t needed.
“I’ll talk to them,” Rhy said, moving in that direction. “But stick around, Grayson. Brookland PD will want your statement and Eve’s too.”
“Got it.” He reached out to take Eve’s hand, waiting until Rhy was out of earshot to say, “I never cheated on my girlfriends. I dated a lot, yes. But one at a time, and most of the time, the end of the relationship was mutual.” Except with Monica, he thought with a sigh. His big failure.
“That’s not how I remember it,” she said. “You had a different girlfriend every week.”
He wanted to defend himself, then realized they were talking about the way he lived his life ten years ago in high school. He was about to tell her he didn’t date women the way he used to when a shout caught his attention.
“Are you Grayson Clark?” a uniformed officer asked. His Brookland PD nametag read Rawson. “Did you move the body?”
“No, I only briefly touched his neck to check for a carotid pulse.” He frowned. “What makes you think the body was moved?”
“Oh, it was definitely rolled over,” the cop said. “I’m thinking the murderer rolled him onto his back to make it easier to verify he was dead.”
That would explain the twisted torso, he thought. But there were still too many unanswered questions.
Who killed Andrew Thomas, and why? And was the guy’s death related to the attempts against Eve?
Chapter Eight
Andrew was dead. Eve grappled with the news, trying to make sense of it all. She hadn’t loved him, but she had cared about him. And even though it made no sense that his murder was related to the attacks against her, she could not shake the cloak of guilt.
Why was this happening? She stood outside Zeke’s truck, feeling oddly detached as she watched the police and ambulance crew swarm the area. It felt similar to the way she’d stood outside the research institute. As if this were an action-adventure film playing in front of her eyes rather than real life.
She doubted she’d watch an action-filled movie ever again. Not that she’d seen very many. Give her a silly romantic comedy any day.
She tore her gaze away and tried not to dwell on the murder of a man she’d once dated.
“Eve? Did you already give the officer your statement?”
Startled from her thoughts, she turned to Grayson. “Yes. He spoke to me briefly while you were talking to Rhy and the others.”
“Okay, great. Ready to get out of here?” He used the key fob to unlock the door. “Jump in. We’ll get breakfast.”
“Breakfast?” she echoed incredulously, not moving an inch. “You want to eat after seeing Andrew’s dead body?”
He grimaced. “I know it sounds awful, but yeah, I’m hungry. Besides, we need to eat sometime. Better to do that now on the way back to the hotel.”
She placed a hand to her stomach, warding off a queasy sensation. Maybe it was a cop thing, to be able to shrug off death so easily. She was secretly glad she hadn’t had to see Andrew up close and personal. “I’ll go with you, but I can’t eat.”
He hesitated, then nodded. “Okay, but I have a great place in mind, Rosie’s Diner. You’ll like it. She bakes fresh pastries every day.”
With a sigh, she pushed off from the truck to get inside. Leaving the scene of the crime was a relief. She wished now she hadn’t agreed to visit Andrew first thing in the morning.
Although if they hadn’t found him, he may have lain on the floor for days. No, it was probably better that they’d come. Bad enough he’d probably been there all night.
Grayson cranked the air and pulled away from the curb. “Do you really think a woman did this?”
He was asking her? “I don’t know. I only wanted to point out that it’s possible. Could be that Bambi or the other women he dated had anger issues and didn’t take kindly to being cheated on.”
“We’ll use the computer to see if we can find Bambi,” he said as he headed east. “She shouldn’t be too hard to find with a unique name like that.”
“She may be listed in the O&P website too.” It was easier to focus on Bambi than on how Andrew had died.
“The Brookland cops have called in a Detective Meyer to handle Andrew’s murder, so I can’t reach out to Bambi myself.” Grayson sounded as if he were talking to himself more so than to her. “But maybe we can find something by digging through her social media posts.”
“Rhy is okay with giving Brookland control over Andrew’s case?” She was surprised by that.
“For now. We really don’t have anything concrete to link Andrew’s murder to the attacks on you.” He shrugged. “But if we do come up with something that connects them in even the smallest way, Rhy will yank the case back quicker than you can blink.”
That sounded more like the Rhy she was getting to know. Funny how the entire team came across as family, not just friends. Maybe that came from depending on them to watch your back.
Grayson was an integral part of the team. Casting him a sidelong glance, she agreed with him on one thing, he was different now than he was in high school. Mature, focused, and intense on the task at hand. Willing to risk his life for her and the public. She had to admit he’d become a better person over the years.
Depressing to realize she had pretty much stayed the same. Not that her research wasn’t important, but at the moment, it didn’t seem nearly as noble.
“Wow, Rosie’s is packed,” he said, breaking into her thoughts.
“A sign of good food, right?” She glanced around the small parking lot. “I think there’s someone leaving.”
“I see them.” He wrenched the wheel of the truck in time to scoot into the spot vacated by a minivan. “I think I smell cinnamon rolls.”
“You’re imaging that.” When she pushed out of the truck to head inside, she realized he was right. The scent of cinnamon hung in the air.
“I was right!” Grayson’s dark eyes gleamed. “You’ll want to try them, Eve. I’ve never tasted anything like it.”
